The Sixth Sense's Original Story Would Have Sent The Movie In A Completely Different Direction

Filmgoers know the story of "The Sixth Sense" by this point. It follows child psychologist Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), who takes on a new client, a young boy named Cole (Haley Joel Osment), with the unique ability to see ghosts walking around the living. Of course, it ends with a massive twist we won't spoil here in case you haven't seen a 24-year-old movie by this point. But ultimately, the film works because it's about finding connection and learning to let go. It's unclear if those same themes would've been present had M. Night Shyamalan gone with his original idea for the story. 

In an interview with Yahoo!, Shyamalan broke down his career and revealed that he had different ambitions in mind for "The Sixth Sense." For starters, there wasn't going to be any therapy, and it would've taken more after "The Silence of the Lambs." As he put it, "Originally Sixth Sense was some kind of version of a serial-killer movie. It was more kind coming out of my love of Silence to the Lambs and that genre, mixed with the supernatural. In the first iterations of the screenplay, there was a crime-scene photographer whose son saw ghosts. So that was kind of how it started to come to me. But then it evolved... like halfway through, I came up with the idea of a therapist and changed everything, and concentrated on two families."

By the sound of it, "The Sixth Sense" could've been more of a horror movie than a psychological thriller. Seeing how "The Sixth Sense" is widely considered Shyamalan's best work, it's a good thing he changed the story. It began an illustrious career that's resulted in some truly unique works of art.